After I posted about how terrible my Mother's Day pre-weeks usually are, I decided I needed to update.
I had a good, blessed weekend.
I will admit that on Thursday and Friday I was sad and down at times. Not at my kids ... just frustrated with my own long list of stuff that was nagging at me, and how I wasn't making progress with it. I started to indulge in a pity party and I made myself stop. For one thing, my teens noticed it and I didn't want them to think I hated Mother's Day. (They had read my blog post.)
Friday night I told Steve I didn't want to go to a Saturday morning outing he'd suggested because I just wanted to make progress on projects at home. We did go to a few yard sales on Saturday morning as a whole family, and I'm glad we did. We gained some neat things, like a $5 KitchenAid Classic stand mixer that actually fits under my cupboards. (Mine is taller and won't fit on my counter so it gets used much less often.) I also gained 7 turquoise mugs that look perfect with my melon-colored counter tops ... for $1. (I figure if I have to have the oddest counters alive, I'm going to work with them and enjoy them!) And then there was the $1 cobalt blue serving tray that I WILL use, because it is my favorite color! We did buy some other things, but those were the best deals that brightened up my kitchen.
Saturday afternoon, my 3 oldest daughters and I attended an All Daughter's Tea at a local tea house. We wore fancy hats (provided by the tea house) and enjoyed a table to ourselves with yummy dessert and iced tea. We shopped at Wal-mart on our way home so the girls' could shop for my Mother's Day gift, and I had my oldest daughter spend 45 minutes practicing her driving, including driving us home on the highway for the first time.
Steve did a lot of mowing on Saturday, while I tried to catch up on folding (and washing) laundry. It is so hard for him to keep up with mowing our 7 acres with a push mower, and he was really behind this Spring. I know he felt good about crossing that off his to-do list. I felt good making progress on the laundry. That evening, we moved our nine 2-year old hens and our single 3-year old guinea from the limestone barn (their winter shelter) to the portable chicken "tractor" they live in during warmer weather. They're enjoying the sunshine and grass again!
Today, we went to church, and Steve's Mom joined us. We had her over for pizza afterward, and we showed her our chickens and our new puppy. She didn't stay very long, but it was still nice to spend time with her. The children told me they were doing my work and I was to relax. They had picked up the house on Saturday and they started a few loads of laundry this evening, as well as cooking supper. I appreciated their help, their hugs, and their cards.
While they did my work in the house, I ended up helping Steve outside to prepare our other chicken coop (not a tractor) for the baby chicks. Once it was ready, including fence-repairs, we moved them up from the basement into their new home. It was getting dark by then, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how they like it. Steve also did a lot more mowing today, and he's exhausted.
I told Steve that I got a ton of gifts this year. He had bought me a half-price Coffee House clock on Friday night for my kitchen. Then Saturday we got the mugs, the cobalt tray, and the Kitchenaid mixer at yard sales. Then on Sunday he (and the children) gave me lots of dark chocolate. In addition, we moved the chickens and made head-way on my laundry and his mowing. I love checking things off a list, so that was also a gift.
It was a really nice weekend, of just being together and working together. Yes, I worked on Mother's Day ... but it was what I wanted to do.
Feeling Blessed,
April E.
